After opening Plainridge Park Casino in June, Massachusetts has done quite well, earning $18.1 million for the first month of operations, when looking at gross gaming revenue reports. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has published the first month’s reports and the totals are quite good. However, nearby Rhode Island may have taken a hit with their casino revenues due to the opening of Plainridge.
Reports show that the Twin River Casino and the NewPort Grand of Rhode Island have earned $49.6 million which is $1.9 million less than the totals from the same month from 2014. July was not as successful in 2015 and officials feel that Plainridge has something to with it. The state relies on the two gaming halls as well as the lottery and keno to produce revenues.
Plainridge offers over 1,200 slot machines and electronic style table games. The venue had a price tag of $250 million to create off Route 495 and has a tax rate of 49%, which is quite high when compared to casinos across the US. In July, the casino was able to create almost $9 million in revenues which will be used to help the communities of Massachusetts as well as the development fund for horse racing.
Officials have estimated that the state will be able to earn $200 million in the first year, seeming to be on track after the first month of operations. The facility of Plainridge is the first gambling hall of four to be created in Massachusetts that will be in competition with Newport Grand, Twin River and the Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun. Plainridge is actually the smallest casino so Rhode Island could be in serious trouble once the additional casinos are created. This will include a $1.7 billion venue created by Wynn Resorts in Everett.
A report from 2012 by the Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC showed that Rhode Island could lose as much as much as $150 million based on the gaming competition from Massachusetts.